


DannyMay 2020

by C1oudStrife



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: DannyMay 2020, Gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:42:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 16,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23990995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C1oudStrife/pseuds/C1oudStrife
Summary: Collection of short works following the prompts of DannyMay 2020 (https://dannymayevent.tumblr.com/post/614220138507616256/2020-dannymay-calendars)See individual chapters for summaries/content warnings
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Sam Manson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51





	1. Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Danny thinks about the "scary eyes"

There were a lot of things on Danny’s mind when he thought about his rather young half-life.

He had plenty to think about. He’d become a Halfa at the tender age of only fourteen, an already rare experience made even rarer by his inexperience.

The whole confusing ordeal was made even more stressful by the fact that the only other Halfa he knew refused to say even a word about anything to help.

Not that Danny was sure Vlad Masters could be of help.

Despite being cut from the same cloth, their ghost halves were so different. Phantom could almost pass as human, if it weren’t for his ethereal glow. Plasmius… well, no one could doubt Plasmius was a ghost.

Vlad’s comment about Danny’s “scary eyes” was what made him think that day.

Danny had only seen Vlad’s version once, but he could remember it vividly. The ectoplasm in his blood boiled in stress trying to keep his glare locked on Vlad’s. It was like some sort of instinct was screaming at him that Vlad was offering some form of primal threat.

Did Danny’s scary eyes elicit the same reaction in others? His human half had stayed rational, so it had to be a ghost thing to feel wary.

He certainly wasn’t going to ask Vlad what the results were. He didn’t really feel comfortable asking any of the other ghosts either.

He could only hope the reaction was the same as his eyes burned green, masking his humanity with a primal, ghostly fury.


	2. Flowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maddie Fenton gets a strange package of seeds in the mail.
> 
> (Warning: injury to Danny with dubious results, difficulty breathing)

A strange delivery had shown up at the Fenton household one day.

It had no return address, or letter to clarify any reasoning behind it, and was sent to specifically Maddie Fenton.

Within the rather blank envelope were simply seeds. Nothing more, nothing less.

Curious about their secrets, Maddie had decided on planting them. She hadn’t received any instruction on what they were for, so growing them seemed the safest, simplest option.

None of the Fentons had a single hint about what they were as they sprouted out of their seeds.

It was only as they started budding that an idea had started to take hold.

It started with a few little coughs and sneezes from Danny. Pollen was a common allergen that was beginning to rear its head, so he thought nothing of it beyond the annoyance.

Then, Danny’s coughing fits started getting worse, more concentrated. He hadn’t known about the new plants, just that he seemed to have difficulty breathing in a specific room. He took to avoiding that room, it wasn’t somewhere he particularly hung around anyway.

Maddie was quick to realize that the plants were some form of flower.

The house could use some sprucing up, a bit more color, a bit more nature. She moved the budding flowers from the one room to various corners of the home.

Danny had come home coughing, barely able to see through the tears flooding out of his eyes.

He locked himself in his room, desperate to calm down the allergic episode.

The flowers bloomed a beautiful red.

They were blood blossoms, beautiful but deadly to ghosts. Someone sent them knowing that fact.

Danny had gone completely quiet as they blossomed. A quick check found him gravely ill, much to the distress of each member of the Fenton family.

His chest burned, and he was unable to voice complaint, or reason, or even get out of bed for fresh air. His breathing was shallow, weakened by the severe pain that threatened his lungs.

A human reacting to blood blossoms was almost completely unheard of, leaving the plants in the back of Maddie’s mind as she did her best to tend to her son. She never could discover what it was that ailed him.

Left with no other options, an ambulance was called, sending Danny to the hospital in hopes of treatment.

He never got to see what flowers had bloomed.


	3. Reflection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack Fenton is staying at Vlad's mansion, and discovers something peculiar about his old friend  
> (snippet from my Dracula Vlad AU)
> 
> (Warning: detailed description of facial trauma/gore)

Vlad Masters, for whatever reason, had not a single mirror within his mansion.

It was peculiar, but not enough so for Jack Fenton to voice complaint to his friend. Instead, Jack simply set up the small mirror he’d brought with him on the bathroom counter. It was just enough for him to see himself and freshen up for the day, which was all he really needed it for.

Perhaps the tiny size of that mirror was the reason Jack failed to see Vlad sneak up behind him.

He expected footsteps, or a knock, or some form of audio to announce Vlad’s presence. However, the man proved himself more quiet than a cat stalking its prey.

Jack startled when Vlad placed a simple hand on his shoulder.

Rather than whirl around, or shout in surprise, Jack instinctively looked in the mirror to identify his guest.

He regretted that decision quickly.

He recognized Vlad’s clothes, the finely tailored suit, through the bloodstains that splattered down the shirt. Whatever else there was of Vlad - because that was, definitely, Vlad - was hardly recognizable at all. His face had been reduced to a horrific concoction of blood and gore. Burn scars and melted flesh still bubbled and oozed despite looking as if they’d attempted to heal over. The sockets where his eyes and nose and mouth should have been were completely sealed over by dripping muscle. The blood still drooled off the wound, down Vlad’s shirt, adding to the dried dark stains.

Jack turned, slowly, expecting the gore to look even worse face-to-face. He expected Vlad to drop dead right there, with no way to call an ambulance for help.

Perhaps it was even more surprising to find that wasn’t the case.

Vlad’s face - for he had a face, and not a drop of blood in sight - contorted from thought to cold, calculated fury. He snatched Jack’s mirror off of its makeshift stand and held it up, intent on confiscating it.

However, Jack’s focus was elsewhere.

Vlad looked normal, healthy, completely as he should… but Jack could still see the horrible, gory mess reflected in the mirror.

As Vlad turned away, tossing the accusatory mirror out of an open window, Jack could only process one thing.

Whatever Vlad Masters was, and whatever had happened to him, he was no longer human. 

There was also a very good chance that he knew that Jack knew.


	4. Science

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maddie Fenton thinks about science

Everything had a science to it.

Maddie Fenton lived by that fact.

Her colleagues had always called her eccentric, among harsher things, for going after the science of the unscientific. For putting facts to creatures of hearsay.

She was ecstatic, needless to say, when the study of ghosts became more commonplace. Perhaps not as much as her husband, but she felt the quiet satisfaction of hoping the other scientists thought of her when they thought about how they didn’t believe.

She and Jack were the pioneers of ghost science. They knew everything there was to know. Their names would go down in history.

So then… why? Why were they still being mocked? Treated like they knew nothing about the very subject they introduced the rest of the world to?

It was their inventions that brought a new meaning to ghost hunting. To ghost science. To science as a whole. Every piece of ghost hunting equipment or data of the supernatural could be traced back to Fenton technology. Surely the other scientists knew.

Maddie was pulled out of her thoughts as Jack entered the lab, as jolly as could be.

Jack always wore his heart on his sleeve. It was an aspect she loved about him.

She saw it hurt, when he was excluded, but he always continued his studies with vigor.

In a way, perhaps seeing that gave her hope. They weren’t studying for fame, or glory, but rather simply the love for what they do.

Just as people learned to believe in ghosts, in time they’d learn to believe in the Fentons, too.


	5. Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom have similar interests, so the world muses.

Daniel Fenton loved the moon.

That wasn’t some leap of logic. It was in space, and he loved space. When the stars twinkled their greetings to him at night, the moon would be there too, like the giant leader of a pack of tiny, wayward lights.

Danny Phantom loved the moon.

That fact had taken the world by surprise. Ghosts had one interest they clung to, one thing that made them who they identified themselves to be.

Danny Phantom seemed to have a plethora of interests. He loved justice. He loved space. He loved the moon. He loved Samantha Manson and Tucker Foley. He loved the living, perhaps more than his own kind.

Perhaps that was what made Danny Phantom so unique. He loved.

For a ghost, that was such a strange, and different thing.

For a boy… perhaps it wasn’t.

Except no one wanted to admit the similarities. No one wanted to admit that whenever Danny Phantom looked up at the moon, and the stars, and the sky… he looked so much like Danny Fenton. No one wanted to admit how much that seemed to make everything fall into place.

No one would admit that Danny Phantom loved the moon.


	6. Stuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vlad's basement is an escape room, and Danny is not having fun.

Stuck in the basement of a creepy mansion in Wisconsin was not how Danny wanted to spend his weekend.

Technically speaking, it probably wasn’t how anyone liked to spend their weekends. Except Vlad, but it was his creepy mansion basement anyway.

Yes, Danny felt the need to emphasize creepy twice. Sure, secret corridors and hidden unethical basement labs weren’t unheard of, but they were usually mentioned in video games or movies or books. People didn’t do that in real life.

...Well, admittedly, Vlad’s mansion was the only one that Danny had ever been in. Not that the fact changed his opinion.

Seriously, were all the puzzles necessary? Neither human nor ghost could get in or out without solving something. Did Vlad have to solve those every day or did he know some other secret to get out? Was that a puzzle in itself?

Danny sighed, frustrated. The minutes until Vlad’s return were ticking by. If all that time he was playing Sudoku on the wall didn’t even amount to anything he was going to scream.

Maybe the room wasn’t even Vlad’s actual lab. Maybe Vlad wasn’t even coming back. Maybe Vlad put Danny in a literal escape room for fun and was watching the boy miserably fail each puzzle through a camera somewhere.

The idea made Danny want to punch Vlad as soon as he got out.

A lock clicked, signalling that Danny had finally solved the annoying number puzzle. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the door. A panel had opened up on the opposite end of the room with another puzzle, this time for his ghost half to solve.

Danny groaned. Vlad was definitely laughing somewhere, and definitely put all those puzzles there on purpose.

Danny was going to get out… eventually, and when he did, he’d find a nice, hard, ghost-proof escape room to torture Vlad with too. Maybe a whole series of them so he wouldn’t see Vlad for the next month.

Yeah, that was a nice idea. Reinvigorated by the thought, Danny continued solving the puzzles.


	7. Second Chance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fentons give Vlad a second chance. Vlad needs time to think over the offer.

Vlad Masters was not a man of second chances. That included both giving and taking them.

Perhaps, in a way, it hinted how he was becoming more ghost than human.

Not that his status of half-ghost was shifting. One didn’t become more ghost or more human over time. They were either alive, or dead, or both.

Vlad Masters was definitely still both.

However, each side also had a culture. Humans had something to make them human, and ghosts had something that made them ghosts.

Vlad existed in the middle, yes, but after years of isolation he grew far more accustomed to ghost culture. He grew far more used to instinct, and vendettas, and the unforgiving rage that only the dead experienced.

In an equal sense, perhaps that was why he never truly believed anyone could forgive him. In another’s shoes, he could never see giving himself another chance. He knew his heart well enough to never forgive himself.

If he thought too hard on it, the idea made him wonder why the Fentons kept giving him another chance. Only Danny and Jazz knew the truth, and he doubted Jack would ever figure it out, but surely Maddie had begun getting suspicious. Surely Maddie could put together that Plasmius went wherever Vlad was, or how suspicious it was for Vlad to show up and become mayor, or how Plasmius kept fixating on the Fenton family. Surely she’d bring up her suspicions with Jack, and ponder her way to the truth. Surely she’d already be well beyond giving him another chance.

Why, then, did she keep agreeing with Jack on inviting them back into their lives? Why hadn’t Danny or Jazz come up with something to say to keep him away? Why did it feel like all of them were giving him a second chance?

More importantly… why did it feel like he wanted to take it? Not out of spite, but out of genuine loneliness and an ache deep in his heart that whispered the unfinished turmoils of missing his friends.

He knew his heart. He knew that feeling was foreign, and simply ancient memories of the Vlad Masters long dead.

He would not take the second chance. If only because he refused to admit he feared it, and feared the comforts of putting his soul at ease.


	8. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting lost in the Ghost Zone is a rite of passage for ghosts and half-ghosts alike.

To say the Ghost Zone was large would almost certainly be an understatement. Any who entered it weren’t even sure if it had an end. Perhaps it was infinite. Perhaps even that was underestimating its vast reaches.

It was almost a rite of passage, for a ghost to get lost in its depths. No… perhaps even a requirement. For when a ghost got lost in the Ghost Zone, with nothing but the ectoplasm whirling through and around them to guide them, they could finally discover who they were and where their Lair belonged.

Though no one knew, the same reigned true for half ghosts.

Well, one knew, of course. If only by sheer accident.

It had happened in Vlad’s first visit to the Ghost Zone. Despite all logic of the idea, his own ghost portal had opened before the Fentons’.

Some sort of instinct had called out to him as soon as it was open, daring him to look inside. The scientist still buried deep in his soul had listened, and he’d entered without any sort of preparation or thought.

It was only natural for someone in his position to get lost.

Vlad Plasmius had no friends in the Ghost Zone. He had no one to call to or stumble upon for guidance.

He was alone, save for the ectoplasm that whispered to his half-living veins.

In that moment, being half-dead felt far more comfortable to say.

Vlad Plasmius allowed the ectoplasm to whisper. He found a sense of belonging in its sweet promises, and listened to his own desire to follow where it pointed him to go.

A ghost’s lair often reflected its core. To see a ghost’s lair was to get a glimpse of who they were, and all that still served dear to them, and what they thought of themself.

Were Vlad’s lair made earlier, perhaps it would be simpler. The lair that appeared, however, was not that of a simple man.

It was a mansion, extravagant and imposing. From the outside, from a glance, one would likely guess it would suit someone so sure of himself as Vlad.

Vlad himself, however, knew the deeper meanings. He saw the labyrinthine interior, as dark and confusing and changed as his own mind. He saw the ornate decor, which formed not a beautifully imposing horror, but a prison of his own design.

He saw the truth in himself, and felt so raw and exposed.

Perhaps that was what made a ghost so territorial. It took trust to allow someone to see their true heart.

Vlad Plasmius trusted no one.

For that reason in particular, he trusted no one to even know he had a lair.

Thus it sat, locked up, holding all that Vlad held dear as prisoner with not a soul even aware it existed.

Unless, of course, another half-dead spirit was to get lost and stumble upon it.


	9. Glow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack Fenton is convinced Vlad glows.

Jack Fenton could be hyper, but he was not a clueless man.

At least, he liked to believe that was the case. Things went over his head sometimes, but for the most part, he was a scientist, and he could notice ghostly oddities even if he didn’t necessarily process them yet.

His old friend Vlad was surrounded by those little oddities. Things Jack couldn’t quite process yet but was subconsciously aware of.

That fact was especially true the night that Jack had insisted that Vlad stay over. Vlad had come all the way from Wisconsin for some form of important business, and Jack’s good-natured heart refused to allow Vlad to exhaust himself traveling back at such an hour.

The Fentons didn’t have much of a guest room. They used to, but since they didn’t get many guests, it had been repurposed into more of an equipment storage room.

For that reason, Vlad had found himself staying the night up in the Ops Center.

That was likely the wisest choice for everyone, as far as Jack could tell. The Ops Center was secluded away from the rest of the house, allowing Vlad his privacy, and the Fenton family could continue their lives as normal.

However, Jack found himself worrying about his friend, late into the night. Jack was the host, and it felt somewhat rude to just lock Vlad away, even if it was in a rather comfortable secluded emergency housing.

They didn’t get to see each other often. The least Jack could do was check in on his old friend.

Vlad was likely getting ready for bed at that point, if he wasn’t there already. If he was already asleep, it would likely be best if Jack left him alone.

Luckily for Jack, Vlad couldn’t be found in the bed. In fact, he almost spooked himself stumbling upon Vlad poking around the Ops Center.

It wasn’t the fact that Vlad was looking around that spooked Jack. He loved the idea of perhaps getting his friend back into their old shared interest.

What was startling was the fact that Vlad’s eyes were glowing. Not just his eyes, there was a glowing pulse that burned in Vlad’s chest, stretching and crackling out as if through his veins.

Vlad smiled at Jack, as if completely unaware of the eerie glow radiating off of himself. “Jack, it’s late. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

He sounded like the normal Vlad. Jack wondered if he was just tired, and imagining things in his state of half-sleep. “Just checking in, making sure you’re settling in okay.”

“I’m doing fine, no need to worry yourself.”

Jack’s eye caught Vlad fiddling with a piece of ghost hunting equipment. Perhaps he came to the wrong conclusion, but he came to a conclusion nonetheless. “You know, this Ops Center is probably the safest place in Amity Park. No ghost can get in or out of it.”

“Is that so?”

“Absolutely!” Jack patted a metal wall with perhaps too much force. “Madds and I built this place to be impenetrable!”

Jack was positive he saw that glow in Vlad’s chest flare up at Maddie’s nickname. Vlad, however, still looked calm and unaware, so Jack tried not to pay it any mind.

Vlad hummed in thought for a moment. “What would happen if a ghost did get in?”

Jack found himself thrilled that Vlad was asking such questions. “There’s a whole security system! Check this out.”

Vlad moved aside to allow Jack to access a control panel. The glow was burning so bright that Jack could almost see the panel’s buttons clearly.

In a way, the glowing mark being on Vlad’s chest reminded Jack a bit of a heart. It pulsed rapidly as Jack’s hand passed over an ecto-weapon, as if it was having a panic attack.

Jack glanced at Vlad’s face as he worked. Vlad was still calm, completely the opposite of the panicked bright glow.

Jack rubbed his eyes as he explained all the mechanics of the Ops Center’s security system. His imagination was really running wild from lack of sleep.

After a while, Vlad put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “It’s getting late, Jack. Why don’t you get some rest?”

Jack stared into Vlad’s glowing red eyes. Was Vlad starting to glow more? It was hard to tell.

Vlad’s grip hardened as he led Jack toward the exit. “I’ll be fine for the night. Thank you for all this information.”

Jack nodded. “Of course, buddy. Sweet dreams.”

He yawned and turned away, only barely catching Vlad’s response. “Rest well, Jack.”


	10. Corruption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ectoplasm changes a man.  
> (Warnings: slight mention of Vlad's hospitalization, open-ended negative events for Danny)

Ectoplasm in humans was not a concept that was particularly well studied. That was both because there were only two real test subjects, and because both of those subjects had sworn their results to secrecy. In fact, had Vlad Masters not been injured in front of witnesses, no one would have even thought to consider ectoplasm contamination feasibly possible.

Of course, with Vlad completely cutting off any form of contact, neither of those witnesses truly got to see the extent of his ectoplasmic corruption.

Truly, that was the only thing it could be called. Vlad Masters did not come out of the incident the same man he went in as.

On the surface he probably looked fine. He had years to adjust, to hide, to grow comfortable in his new skin.

Except the werewolf in sheep’s clothing can never truly be a sheep again, no matter how real his wool is.

Years and years ago, Vlad Masters looked the same as everyone else. He looked the same, but he wasn’t. He was the only known half-ghost.

His ghost half started off a meek little thing. Waking up as the lone wolf in a world of sheep left Plasmius feeling confused and afraid. Months in a hospital had left him small, and scrawny, and pale. Truly, he was nothing like the Plasmius that Danny Phantom was fated to meet.

The Plasmius of the past mostly just wanted to get his life back in order. Or, at least, as “in order” as he could possibly make it when he was half-dead and left with next to nothing thanks to the circumstances.

Perhaps that climb back to anything positive was what allowed the full effects of ectoplasmic corruption to take hold of him so fast.

It started with simple anxiety. Simple rage. Simple yet negative emotions. Nothing that would seem out of the ordinary compared to his other problems.

Then the little changes started setting in. A particular sudden bout of rage caused his human half to develop fangs. His ghost half seemed to get more pale instead of less. His hair was greying far too early… until it wouldn’t… until it would again.

The little changes grew bigger… but he had plenty of years to adjust. Thanks to the little changes, he likely didn’t even notice the bigger ones. He likely didn’t notice how much had changed to cause his ghost half to look nothing like his human half, or how even his human half had small quirks that weren’t there before, or how his mood seemed to range from only obsession to anger.

Unfortunately, no one else was around to notice either. Jack and Maddie hadn’t seen him in so long, and Danny only ever got to meet the husk of a man that his health had turned him into.

With no one around to notice, no one was around to attribute the changes to ectoplasm.

No one was around to determine how long Danny had until the symptoms would appear. No one was around to question the recent irritability and the fangs.


	11. Doctor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The doctors were at a loss about the medical condition of their current patient, Vlad Masters.  
> (Warnings: Facial trauma, hospitals, coma, illness, slight mention of a bioweapon in one sentence, mention of possible death)

The doctors had never seen anything like it before.

Such seemed par for the course with most of the science major students. Some made life-changing new inventions or scientific discoveries. Some accidentally made a new, horrible illness more along the lines of a bioweapon.

Their current patient was the latter.

One Vlad Masters had been rushed to the hospital after his friends’ experiment took a turn for the worse. The result had been horrifying. Truly, it would be a miracle if any semblance of his face would survive. It was a miracle that he survived, really. At best, if the doctors could figure out what to do for him, he’d definitely come out with scars. At worst… hopefully he wouldn’t feel a thing if he died during his coma.

His two friends were kind enough to inform the staff that they’d been experimenting with ectoplasm.

The doctors didn’t quite believe them at first. Ectoplasm was pseudoscience at best.

However, they had to admit that Vlad’s scars looked… otherworldly.

It should have just been acne, hardly worth the hospital visit.

Except that acne was glowing. Worse, it was pulsating, and oozing, as if some sort of green magma had replaced the blood in his face. The coma was also cause for alarm on top of that. Apparently he had yet to wake up after the initial injury.

The doctors had no choice but to consider listening to Vlad’s friends.

As benign as it sounded, Vlad’s illness was deemed ecto-acne.

The doctors had to admit, they felt sorry for him. It was as if a cruel twist of fate put him in the wrong place at the wrong time, and completely destroyed his life in one swift action. Then, that action was named something as simple as “ecto-acne” as if to kick him while he was down.

It took Vlad Masters a long time to recover. In fact, for most of his stay, he seemed to be getting worse.

It was nothing short of a miracle that one day he woke up, and checked himself out of the hospital. He hadn’t even bothered finishing his recovery plan, or saying goodbye.

Unfortunately, without a willing patient, all the doctors could do was hope that wherever Vlad Masters went, he’d only continue to miraculously recover.


	12. Gloves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vlad Masters has difficulties studying ectoplasm after his fateful incident  
> (Warnings: slight PTSD implications?, hand tremors, burn scars, hand trauma, slight hinting at cannibalism)

Vlad Masters felt a lot of different emotions about ghosts since splitting away from Jack and Maddie.

He wished he could outright hate them. Put his past behind him and focus on something less dangerous or traumatic.

Except, well, the incident made things more complicated than that. It didn’t take a scientist to know what an incident with ectoplasm turned Vlad into. To hate ghosts was to, in some capacity, hate himself, and he’d been doing far too much of that already.

Like it or not, he needed to accept that side of himself. He was stuck with it, after all.

To learn to like that side of himself, he had to like ghosts. To learn to like ghosts, he had to like ghost science.

To learn to like ghost science… he built himself a lab.

The tools and mechanics had been, at first, the simpler part of the setup. He easily remembered what his friends used or suggested.

The ectoplasm… he struggled with that part. The memories were too harsh.

No, it wasn't just the memories. He was just as disgusted by how easily he was drawn to it. Whatever innate need for ectoplasm he'd developed only added to his lack of humanity. It only served to cycle back to his self-hatred.

Vlad took to wearing gloves when he worked with ectoplasm. They worked well as something of a barrier between him and the ethereal substance.

Sometimes his body insisted on taking them off. To touch the ectoplasm with his cold, bare hands just to see what would happen.

One time he did.

His hands were shaky that day. He'd been struggling to work, no longer able to steadily hold anything.

His urge to do something with his time made him consider the idea. Tentatively… he took off the comforting gloves.

The ectoplasm was warm. Somewhere in his memory, he could swear it was cold, but in that moment it was as if he'd stuck his hand into freshly warmed food.

Comparing it to food made him shudder. Did ghosts eat ectoplasm? Weren't they made of it? Yet, some small part of him kept whispering to eat it. That it was food. That it was nutritious.

To ignore that part, he focused on his hand. There were a few burns where the ectoplasm touched with warning signs of an ecto-acne flareup.

Ectoplasm was both nurturing and deadly. The realization was fascinating, yet horrifying. Vlad began to realize he knew nothing about his own body's strengths and weaknesses anymore.

Getting uncomfortable, Vlad washed his hands and put his gloves back on. He couldn't help but notice that he'd stopped shivering, he could hold his hands steady again.

Vlad would not remove the gloves again. However, he wasn't done experimenting with his own reactions to ectoplasm.


	13. Regret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack thinks about his regrets  
> (Warnings: hospital mention)

Jack Fenton was not a man of many regrets.

He had a different style of thinking than most, causing a different style of decision making. However, in his line of work, that could be considered a virtue. Perhaps others would disagree, but Jack Fenton did not regret his decisions.

Truly, if he was asked to think of anything, there was only one thing he really, deeply regretted.

He knew it had been Vlad's own choice to cut ties. He knew that, after Vlad suddenly left the hospital one day, never to be heard from again, it would take a miracle to properly find him.

However, Jack deeply regretted not looking for that miracle.

He should have. He should have knocked on every door in Wisconsin until Vlad opened one. He should have called every number, pestered every mutual friend, staked out the hospital and all of Vlad's usual hangouts. He should have been there for his friend.

It hurt Jack more than he could ever say when Vlad didn't say anything that first year apart. The stress only grew as time went on. Jack mourned his friendship, unable to blame anyone but himself. He'd hurt Vlad, and didn't even try to find him to attempt apologizing.

The day the reunion invitation came in the mail, Jack was ecstatic. Despite how things went, it was as if Vlad was sending him a message that he was finally ready to let Jack try again. No, to demand Jack try again, to scold Jack for ever giving up in the first place.

Jack took the message to heart. He'd apologize to Vlad. He'd make things work. He'd start the reunion off by making up for years and years of silence.

Little did Jack know, he'd only regret how he handled that, too.

A ghost had appeared during the visit. Jack had, to put it nicely for himself, made an absolute embarrassment out of the Fenton ghost hunting name, and didn't even end up catching the spectral villain. The very thing that had caused Jack and Vlad to split apart only managed to make a mess of things and further the rift between them.

Worse, the incident kept happening.

As strange as it felt to say, it was almost as if Vlad's very presence attracted ghosts. Or, at least, he mainly attracted one powerful ghost, which only served to attract other ghosts. All of whom seemed to make a point to terrorize Jack in front of his friend.

Was that Jack's fault, too? Had the incident so many years ago cause Vlad to be haunted? Was that why he'd been so quiet? Too busy being tormented by ghosts to be able to call a proper ghost hunter, and friend?

Jack could do nothing but try his best to mitigate the damage. However, he only felt more regrets every time the Wisconsin Ghost got away.

It was his fault. It was his fault Vlad was haunted. It was his fault he couldn't save his friend. It was his fault each and every time the ghost escaped.

Jack Fenton learned that he had many, many regrets.


	14. Breathe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vlad Masters dies.... until he doesn't. (Until he does)  
> (Warnings: death, asphyxiation/inability to breathe, hospital)

Breathe.

It was such a simple command. In, and out, and repeat again.

So why wouldn't his body follow through? He was going to need air soon. He couldn't suffocate forever.

A heart monitor quietly beeped with an irregular pulse. His irregular pulse.

Unless he got himself breathing, he was going to die.

He clenched his fist, just to make sure he still had control. The monitor beeped, as if warning him how fragile his body was.

He sensed the presence of others entering the room. Medical staff, judging by their voices.

He tried to focus on breathing again. He tried to will his lungs to take in air. How long did he have left?

Not long, if he had to guess by the voices.

Something shocked him. Or tried to, at least. Anything that touched his body felt distant, as if a fog pressed between him and the rest of the world.

The monitor’s beeps were changing. He still couldn’t breathe. Short, erratic beeps became one long monotone drone.

He was dead. His heart was dead.

...So why could he still think? Why could he still hear, and feel?

As he worried, the heart monitor started beeping again. According to the voices, his heart starting back up was nothing short of a miracle.

He tried moving again, and his eyes opened. He was greeted by doctors, and nurses, and medical equipment, and a hospital room.

One of the doctors smiled. “Good morning, Mr. Masters! You’ve just come back from a very risky situation. How are you feeling?”

Vlad Masters blinked, registering himself and the situation he was in. He wasn’t sure how to answer the question.

After all, he still couldn’t breathe. Fully awake, he was beginning to realize he didn’t even need to.


	15. Fave AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack determines to talk things through with Vlad  
> (I don't really know the fandom well enough to have a fave AU, so here's my fave of my AUs currently: more Dracula Vlad.)  
> (Takes place after Day 3's prompt)
> 
> (Warnings: death, implied kidnapping, implied murder, graves, fear of heights)

Jack Fenton was starting to feel like a prisoner in Vlad’s home.

Things just weren’t adding up right.

Vlad was being friendly, which made sense, he was Jack’s friend. He acknowledged their friendship. Yet, there were moments where it was as if Vlad’s true colors flashed. A warning glare, bared fangs - yes, Jack was positive there was nothing he could call them other than fangs. Sometimes Vlad grabbed Jack with strength that was almost superhuman.

Jack found it hard to blame Vlad for getting impatient sometimes. It was the other incidents on top of that which worried him. The horrifying image he saw in the mirror. The ghosts that haunted Vlad’s home and spoke to him as if he was their leader. The glimpses Jack caught, when Vlad thought no one was looking, of inhuman movements.

Jack took a deep breath.

He needed to clear his mind. He was being ridiculous. Vlad was human, and his friend. Other than the ghosts, there were no witnesses around; Vlad had nothing to gain from waiting before killing Jack if that was what he was after.

Yet, Jack’s worries still nagged him.

...Well, when in doubt, there was one way to figure things out. Ask Vlad directly.

Jack stood up and stretched. The best way to handle disputes between friends was to talk it out.

...Except when he went to leave his room, the door was locked from the outside.

Jack's worries flared up anew. Why would Vlad lock him up? 

No… maybe Jack was still just misreading the situation. He needed to talk to Vlad, immediately.

He glanced over to the window.

There was a steep drop down the cliff below, but Vlad had been pretty capable of scaling the wall before. He was thinner, and more lithe than Jack, but surely that wouldn’t render the task impossible.

Jack pushed on the window, glad to find that it hadn’t been locked like the door. He glanced down at the bottomless pit below him before deciding that was a terrible idea.

Jack was not a fan of heights. However, he needed to get out of his room. Frightening himself before the task even started wouldn’t do anything to help him.

Taking a deep breath, Jack climbed out of the window, and began scaling the wall.

It took him a lot longer than it usually took Vlad. Jack refused to look down, knowing he’d be tempting fate if he sated his curiosity.

Vlad’s window was, luckily, already left open. With some effort, Jack heaved himself inside.

Jack was surprised to find the room almost completely empty. A bed stood against the wall, still made and covered in a fine layer of dust. An equally unused nightstand sat next to it, with an old melted candle on top.

The main door to the room, much like Jack’s, was locked seemingly from the outside. However, there was another door hidden near the bed, only visible due to it being left slightly ajar.

Curious, Jack pushed it the rest of the way open. The door led downwards via a flight of stairs, the end nowhere in sight. Having already started more exercise than he'd probably ever want to do again, Jack figured he wasn't going to just stop there.

Despite the room being several floors up, the stairs almost certainly led down to the basement. At the bottom, a high yet small window allowed moonlight to filter though, illuminating something of a room.

Granted, it was only a room by merit of having walls and a roof. As Jack reached the bottom of the stairs, stone steps gave way to a dirt floor. The room smelled damp, and musty, as if it had usually been closed for some time.

Jack was about to call for Vlad when a shape caught his eye. It was near the far wall, so he had to step closer into the room to see it.

It was a tombstone, with the earth in front of it dug up, exposing the body within. Jack's eyes widened. He read the stone, just to make sure he was positive in what he saw.

The stone gave him an equal answer. It was old, and crumbling a bit with age, but the words were still completely legible.

"Here lies Vlad Masters."


	16. Bones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny pokes around Vlad's lab while no one is looking
> 
> (Warnings: bones, corpse gore but like the "blood" is ectoplasm, rotting stuff, cannibalism, murder, graves)

Vlad Masters was a creep. Danny didn’t know him for very long, but he didn’t trust the older man for a second after learning about Plasmius.

The reunion wasn’t quite over yet, and Dany’s parents apparently didn’t share the same distrust. They’d stayed later than the rest of the party, insisting on catching up with their old friend.

Vlad was being nice, but Danny didn’t buy it. Vlad was up to something, and Danny was going to gain the upper hand by investigating by himself if he had to.

Danny had only gotten a glimpse of Vlad’s lab at best. He’d been a bit preoccupied at the time. However, Vlad was distracted at the moment, and Danny could poke around as much as he wanted.

Determined, Danny quickly snuck his way into Vlad's lab.

The room was dark, save for the glow coming from various sources of ectoplasm. Danny hunted for a light switch, but had no luck. He didn’t really need it, the ectoplasm gave off enough light for him, but he would have rather had proper light just for the comfort. Being in someone else’s home, in a dimly lit room, with dubious equipment and who knew what else, felt… eerie.

Most of the equipment Danny didn’t really bother with. Vlad knew how to handle half ghosts. Touching the wrong thing would likely leave Danny tied up and red-handed.

What did catch Danny’s attention was the stronger glow coming from a far corner of the room. It wasn’t a ghost portal, and it looked far too concentrated to just be a couple beakers or samples.

Danny stepped around a table to find, literally, a glowing pile of ectoplasm. It looked similar to any other mass collection of ectoplasm, but something about it made his ghostly core churn. For some reason, his first instinct was to react as if the pile was rotting.

...Gross. Why was the pile there, anyway? The rest of the lab looked rather pristine. One table had a few pieces knocked off of it, a bit of glass shattered on the floor nearby, but overall the place was rather clean. So why was Vlad just letting excess ectoplasm rot away on the floor?

Danny was starting to feel the urge to gag from its potent presence. He leaned against a wall to steady his nerves, and the lights kicked on.

Danny jumped. Thankfully, he’d just managed to find the light switch. Finally. Why it was so far away from the actual entrance Danny didn’t even bother wanting to guess.

He calmed himself down, careful to not accidentally hit the switch again.

The smell of the ectoplasm was really getting to him. Against his better judgement, he glanced at it again.

...There were bones in the ectoplasm. Danny couldn't look away. The lights hit the glowing mass just right, allowing him to see every gruesome detail.

Did ghosts have bones? They didn't really need any, but they had been living beings with bones at one point. Was Vlad keeping a gooey pile of ghost bones, or…?

"Look who we have here."

Vlad's voice snapped Danny back to his senses. He whirled around.

Vlad made no motion to lash out, but given the mess, Danny wasn't yet sure that was a good thing. The elder half ghost looked from Danny, to the pile of bones, and back. "You've never seen this before."

Danny shook his head.

Vlad simply hummed. "You get used to it, eventually. That, or you were lucky enough to be gifted with a stable core."

"...What is that supposed to mean?" Danny had finally found his voice again.

"It means not everything about being half-dead is pretty. Sometimes you have to hide a few skeletons in your closet." He smiled and gestured at the bone pile, before grimacing again, as if realizing that the joke was in poor taste.

"You killed them."

"You can't kill what's already dead, Daniel. This was for my own survival."

"You're horrible!"

Vlad grabbed Danny by the shoulders, his grip firm and cold. "Don't you get it, Daniel? I have to do this." His grip tightened, and Danny forced himself to keep from wincing at the pain. "Just this once, I'll let you in on a secret of what we are. Neither of us are meant to exist like this, and sooner or later, your body will fight itself as well. When that time comes, you can't force yourself to not eat them, or you'll do worse than simply perish."

"Why keep their bones? Why… like this?" 

Vlad's grip loosened, thankfully. "For hunters, those that don't do it for sport, it's been considered a courtesy to the prey to use all they have to offer. This is a grave site, Daniel." He glanced at the pile, and for once, Danny saw a small bit of Vlad's humanity show through. "I collect them to make sure not an inch of their corpse of a soul goes unaccounted for until they are needed."

Danny nodded a bit, getting far beyond uncomfortable and wanting to leave. Vlad seemed to finally notice, and let him go.

Without so much as a glance behind himself, Danny fled.

He wasn't like Vlad. They were both half ghosts, but they were different.

Danny would prove to himself that Vlad's ghost pile was nothing more than a creepy personal collection.


	17. Childhood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny recalls a memory from his childhood
> 
> (Warnings: child neglect/endangerment)

Danny's childhood was strange, thanks to the circumstances of his home life, but it wasn't much different than his teenage years. Personally, he didn’t really see too much odd about it, but he and Jazz were the ones that grew up with their parents’ personalities. They knew what to expect. It was normal to them.

However, there was one memory that clung to the back of Danny’s mind.

He was young back then, the day long before Jack and Maddie finished the portal. He was too young to remember his exact age, but at the time, Danny was getting used to talking, and he was plenty capable of walking and getting into things.

Which meant, for his parents, he was a handful.

Jack and Maddie still had their jobs to do. Jazz was still too young to really watch over Danny by herself, and she had school, so there were more than a few times that Danny would be kept within their sight as they worked.

Or, rather, they tried to keep him in their sight.

The truth was, Jack and Maddie easily got engrossed in their work.

Leaving young, curious Danny unattended in a lab setting was almost certainly breaking a few laws. Not that Danny was old enough at the time to know that. He just knew he was fascinated by the strange gadgets that decorated the room.

A small yet determined Danny managed to easily climb out of the playpen that contained him. His parents’ work was loud, and neither of them so much as thought about looking at him after assuming he was secured and distracted.

Danny had been thrilled to explore everything his tiny hands could reach. Unfortunately to him, most of the gadgets didn’t really work. Buttons clicked and levers flipped but nothing really happened.

Such antics could only hold his interest for so long. After playing with many defunct devices, young Danny had started becoming determined to find something that worked. A quick tap of a button, a quick flip of a lever, a quick turn of a dial, and Danny was quickly toddling his way to the next thing if nothing eventful happened.

That led to him quickly discovering something that actually did work.

It looked old, and weird, and had been buried under a pile of junk he’d been playing with. In the present, Danny would come to realize it was the proto-portal, surviving years of moving and inventing, but in his childhood Danny only saw a fun ring to play with.

To his surprise, playing with it had caused it to turn on, with energy bursting out in a green projectile of light. The noise had at least managed to catch his parents’ attention, and upon realizing what was happening, they quickly grabbed him and vacated the room.

No one got hurt that day, as far as any of them were aware. The projectile had flared up against the ceiling and ricocheted off elsewhere. The Fentons, who remembered their own younger days, were just glad that Danny was alive and well, and still had his face intact.

Unfortunately, the incident hadn’t been enough for them to consider a babysitter. However, Danny never saw the proto-portal again, his present self wondering if it ended up getting thrown out due to its danger.

Overall, despite the incident, he figured he turned out okay growing up. Though, something told him the memory provided some insight as to why his parents were so oblivious about his ghost powers and any missing inventions, and why he seemed to have a habit of poking around their equipment in the first place.


	18. Horror

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, Maddie is homesick.  
> (More Dracula Vlad AU, set after Days 3 and 15's prompts. ...a horror-y AU counts right lmao)
> 
> (Warnings: Hospital, memory loss)

It had been weeks since Jack had set off alone for Vlad’s mansion. Maddie was growing worried, but there wasn’t much she could do. She hadn’t heard from Jack beyond the strange letter that sounded nothing like him.

She missed him, and worrying about him just made her miss him more.

Maddie and the kids had been staying at her sister’s place while Jack was away. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but she was ready to go home. She was ready to curl up in Jack’s huge arms and fall asleep to his heartbeat and just be near him and reminisce for a while.

Jack was only supposed to stay at Vlad’s for a few days. Maddie hoped that it was only a misunderstanding that her husband had been gone so long.

Eventually, she just couldn’t take it anymore. Maddie was homesick, and it was clear that the kids had exhausted any entertainment they could find. Jack or no Jack, she had to go home.

She felt bad running off on her sister. It wasn’t like she was doing it to be malicious, but she was rushing off rather quickly.

Maddie spent an extra day to ensure there were no hard feelings, and left a comforting letter just in case as well, and then returned home.

Perhaps it was fortunate that she did just that.

Not even a few days after, there was a call from the local hospital. One Jack Fenton had been suddenly admitted to the hospital, and he would only speak to his wife, Maddie.

Maddie was at the hospital in a heartbeat. She had no choice but to send the kids back to her sister, as it sounded like Jack would be in the hospital for some time, and he wasn’t quite in the best health for them to see.

Maddie almost cried at the sight of her husband. She’d missed him, so much, and he looked so frail in that hospital bed.

Jack had a distant look on his face, as if his mind had been replaying whatever horrors he’d seen, until he caught sight of Maddie. Almost instantly, his mood improved. He opened his arms, and neither of them said a word until he squished her in a tight embrace. They both cried. The doctors gave them some time alone after it was clear that they needed a moment together.

When they’d finally finished crying, Jack ended their embrace.

Maddie had no idea where to even begin their conversation, so she started simple. “How was Vlad’s?”

Jack had that distant look again, before coming back to the present with fear in his eyes. “I can’t remember, and I don’t want to.”

“You don’t want to? Why not?”

It took him a moment to gather his words. When he decided he couldn’t, he took out a small journal instead. “I wrote every single horror I ever faced there in here. I can’t remember a word of it, and I don’t want to. Whatever happened with Vlad was a nightmare.”

Maddie stared down at the journal as Jack continued. “You can read it if you like, but don’t tell me a word of what’s in it. Not unless it’s absolutely required I remember. I don’t even want to think about his name.”

Maddie nodded. Jack and Vlad were friends, it worried her how bad things must have been for Jack to say such a thing. “I promise I’ll uphold that.” She held the book tightly. “I won’t even read it myself, so that I won’t accidentally remind you.”

Jack smiled, weaker than his usual smiles. “Thank you, Maddie.”

Maddie took the journal out of the room, to get it away from Jack. She had to admit… she was curious. However, she made him a promise. She intended to keep it.

Whatever horror Jack faced… it was gone. Vlad was far enough away that they’d likely never see each other again. For the moment, Jack could focus on healing, and Maddie would stay close by his side until life returned to normal.


	19. Doors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny stumbles upon the strange door of a mansion in the Ghost Zone.  
> (Somewhat sequel to Day 8's prompt)
> 
> (Warnings: a burned photo, distorted reality, stealing/hoarding belongings)

There were many doors scattered throughout the Ghost Zone. Each one belonged to an individual, unique ghost, and some were connected to entire castles or empires.

Danny had learned quickly to not wander into the wrong territories. However, getting lost within the infinite reaches of the Ghost Zone also allowed him to make his fair share of friends.

He sincerely hoped a friend would be what he would find on his current exploration.

Was it foolish to travel the Ghost Zone without the map? Probably. However, Danny's ghost friends seemed to encourage it. Something about it being time for him to do so.

Thus, Danny wandered, mostly interested in finding his way back home, but overall completely lost in unfamiliar surroundings. He passed many unfamiliar doors, and entrances, and passages.

One lair in particular, however, caught his attention.

It was a mansion, whose door was protected with a rather imposing gate. The place was extravagant, clearly belonging to what was certainly a more powerful ghost.

Danny, ever the curious teenager, ignored everything he was taught to navigate around the gate and take a closer look.

From the outside looking in, the mansion seemed empty. However, Danny knew that it was likely a trick of the eye, the real contents hidden behind the protective barrier of the door.

He tried pushing on the door to open it. It was locked.

Such a lack of a welcoming would usually deter further efforts of entry. However, something in Danny's core told him he had to get inside. He had to get a peek.

Being only half ghost had its perks. His human half had an easy time bypassing the ethereal lock. He was inside without any fuss.

Danny was greeted by a rather empty foyer. Different staircases stretched out in various directions, up and down and left and right. Was there even a staircase on the ceiling?

Each staircase went to a different door. If he wanted to explore, he was going to have to pick one.

Danny chose the door to his left. The door opened up into what looked like the living room of a small apartment. There was a kitchen behind the lone couch, and more doors stretched out behind there. One lone piece of decor sat on the kitchen counter, in the form of a framed photo. Danny approached it.

The photo was rather mangled. It looked like someone had purposefully burned off the face of one of the people in it. The other two people… wait, weren't those Danny's parents? Did that mean the third person was…

The click of a lock caught Danny's attention. He jumped, dropping the photo in the process. The glass cracked, splitting right across the burned face of the third member of the group.

Danny, however, didn't notice. He was more focused on the door that definitely hadn't been there a moment ago.

The new door was upside down, closer to the ceiling than the floor. Not that it was a bother to get into. Danny abandoned the photo in favor of traveling through the new door. He had a feeling that it was the mansion's - or its owner's - way of telling him to move along.

The next room was an entirely different setting. It looked like a classroom, though was heavily warped by entrances and exits and reality bending in on itself. 

Again, other than a few small pieces, it was eerily empty. Rather than a photo, there were a few smashed beakers and what looked like aging puddles of ectoplasm. Somehow the scene had both a sense of serenity and a sense of horror.

Danny stepped forward, only to trip over an incomplete staircase embedded into the floor. He’d seen his fair share of ghost lairs, but he couldn’t recall many that looked so… distorted. He thought about the photo in the other room again, as he picked another door to go through.

He couldn’t even pretend not to know. He was definitely wandering around Vlad’s lair. Danny didn’t even know half ghosts could have lairs in the Ghost Zone. Whenever he thought of Vlad he always thought of expensive decor and a lab that looked like it was straight out of a horror movie.

The inside of the mansion in the Ghost Zone felt more… raw. Danny was starting to feel like he was definitely seeing things he shouldn’t as he traveled through rooms that made less and less sense.

Danny didn’t quite know the exact rules about how a ghost’s home formed, but he was smart enough to notice how they always seemed themed to go together. Walker’s prison, Aragon’s castle, Frostbite’s glacier… the ghosts always looked like they belonged.

Did Vlad… belong in an empty labyrinth? Danny’s teenage impulse and rivalry with Vlad wanted to say yes, but… Danny’s heart didn’t feel so sure. As he looked around at dark corridors and endless doors, he couldn’t help but feel like no one deserved to be trapped in such a home.

Another door led Danny into a room with a more gentle atmosphere. Unlike the others, it was decorated with personal belongings. Surprisingly, not entirely just Vlad’s personal belongings. Most of the items were Jack’s, or Maddie’s… Danny even recognized some things from his and Jazz’s childhood that had disappeared a long time ago.

Danny’s first thought was to be creeped out. How long had Vlad been keeping an eye on their family and hoarding their stuff?

Then, he reminded himself where he was, and how the behavior seemed… so unlike Vlad. Sure, Danny wouldn’t put it past him to steal Maddie’s stuff and be creepy about it, but Jack’s too?

Another thought was forming, but Danny was still too busy trying to process what he saw to comprehend it. Though, he did manage to figure out one thing.

His parents were definitely too trusting of their old friend, but they had been friends at some point before. Real, genuine friends.

Maybe Vlad wasn’t just hiding trinkets and creepy hobbies in the room. Maybe, just maybe, the old Vlad was somewhere in there too, locked up with all the memories and things he cherished.


	20. Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flying was good for Danny's morale.
> 
> (Warnings: mentions of running away from home, safe freefalling)

Whenever Danny was frustrated, he'd take to the sky.

That was one perk of having ghost powers. If he was upset enough to want to disappear for a while, he just… could.

Flying through the open air at night was his greatest comfort. The wind in his face, the stars over his head. Everything about it brought him joy. He knew it wasn’t anything like space, as he was still well within Earth’s atmosphere, but it reminded him of his dreams.

It reminded him he had dreams.

Yes, that was what had frustrated him that night. With everything going on in his life, both as Fenton and Phantom, he didn’t get much time to really do what he wanted to do.

Maybe that was another reason he liked to fly. It was just him, and the sky, and no one else. It was like running away from home for a while to do whatever he wanted without actually running away or doing anything extreme.

Danny closed his eyes and soared higher. He could easily imagine himself going up, and up, and up, all the way to the moon, or even beyond that.

However, after a few minutes, he spun around, and let himself freefall. 

Danny loved that part. He didn’t open his eyes as he fell. He didn’t need to. He knew he was getting closer to the ground as he heard the nighttime activity of Amity Park more clearly. He counted the seconds as he fell, clearing his mind of the remains of his worries.

He opened his eyes and stopped just before he’d hit the ground.

Danny took a deep breath, and smiled. Anyone else would probably be terrified by his comfort techniques, but maybe that helped him feel more comfortable with it, too. It felt free. He came up with it himself, and no one could stop him from enjoying it.

Feeling better, Danny took to the sky again, this time heading back home to continue his usual routine.


	21. Ooze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vlad is injured.
> 
> (Warnings: severe injury, blood/ectoplasm-blood, hospital mention, self-medicating/self-administering medical procedures)

Vlad hissed as he slinked back to the safety of his home.

Danny was getting stronger every day, and less interested in Vlad’s usual antics. Vlad supposed it would have only been a matter of time before things escalated.

He hadn’t bothered checking his own injuries when he’d fled. He likely wouldn’t have made the flight home if he tried. Danny was probably laughing at him for fleeing like a coward, or thinking worse thoughts and looking down at the older man, but Danny also had a bad habit of not realizing his own strength.

Vlad sank to the floor, exhausted. He should finally check on his wounds, make sure he wouldn’t be dying permanently. He carefully removed his hand from his injured side, wincing at the feeling of a thick fluid sticking to his fingers.

That same fluid oozed out of his side, all over his clothes, and the floor, and the wall he’d been leaning against.

Wonderful. He’d have to thank Danny for the life-threatening experience.

Vlad pushed himself up, not wanting to get the ectoplasmic blood all over his pristine home. He had far more useful first aid and cleaning tools in his lab, anyway.

He groaned. Danny really did a number on him.

The safest, cleanest way to his lab was probably to just phase through the floor. Unfortunately, that was a horrible idea. The exertion of energy forced Vlad to vomit. He stumbled over himself as he heaved up ectoplasmic fluid.

That just made everything hurt.

Vlad leaned against a table to hold himself up. His first aid kit was nearby. He just needed to find where he put it.

Vlad felt himself getting dizzy as he searched. He couldn't change back human yet. It would only serve to make his injuries worse. Anything was repairable as long as he stayed a ghost.

His hand bumped against the familiar shape of the kit. Good. He pulled it out and opened it.

Vlad pulled up his shirt to get a better look at his side. Ectoplasm was still oozing out of a rather deep gash. If he were in human form, he'd most certainly need a hospital, which was definitely out of the question for him, for multiple reasons.

He got to work cleaning and disinfecting the wound. On the bright side, any other injuries were bruises or scrapes at best. The one on his side was the worst.

Vlad already knew he was going to have to cauterize the wound. He was losing too much fluid through it. He took a deep breath as he grabbed everything he needed.

Without another second’s hesitation, Vlad pressed heat to his oozing flesh.

Medically tending to himself was dangerous, but he was used to it. He was well prepared for passing out as soon as the pain hit.

He was going to have to hope the cauterization worked and rest off the exertion.

Preferably, he would survive to continue self-medicating later.


	22. Isolation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A peek into Vlad's mind during the years he'd been gone.
> 
> (Warnings: torture + injury mentions, negativity toward Jack)

Vlad Masters, for many years, prided himself in complete isolation. He didn’t need anyone else. He didn’t trust anyone else, after the incident that nearly destroyed his face.

Of course, complete isolation grew hard. Vlad had to keep up appearances after commandeering his wealth, which meant a lot of pretending to care about other wealthy fanatics. Plus, there was the Dairy King, who insisted they had to share their home if Vlad wanted to stay. Not that Vlad would just leave, but it was clear the Dairy King had no plans on moving either.

Vlad preferred isolation. He convinced himself that even if he couldn't physically isolate himself from the world, he could emotionally. He'd make no friends, and put on empty smiles.

He wasn't entirely sure what changed. Perhaps he'd spent so long around people over the years that he started thinking about them, again.

Them, of course, being someone in specific. Them being the people who isolated him in the first place. Them being none other than his childhood friend Jack Fenton and their lab partner, Maddie.

Vlad hadn't so much as said a word to them since the incident. For a very long time, he wanted nothing to do with them. He wanted nothing to do with anyone because of them.

However, for whatever reason, they were on his mind again.

He'd hated them since that day, to put it nicely. His isolation was their fault. His health was their fault. His inhumanity was their fault. The list went on. Then, they had the gall to invite him as best man to their wedding.

He didn't go, of course. Didn't even answer. They weren't worth one of his fake smiles.

Why, then, did his mind wander to them? He supposed because he trusted them, before that day. He'd cared about them, before that kindness bit him where it hurt.

He still… wanted to care.

Vlad cursed his own weakness. He didn't want anyone anymore. It was their fault that he didn't want anyone. He shouldn't care.

...Yet, he did.

Yet, he couldn't bring himself to care completely. They were still at fault. They still deserved his fury.

Or, perhaps, he was looking at it from the wrong angle. Perhaps he was just realizing that.

Yes, they were his friends once. They wouldn't hurt him on purpose. However, the fact remained that he did get hurt. Severely hurt, because of an accident that should never have happened.

...Right, an accident. An accident, on a plan that had been worked and reworked enough times to have been fine.

Maddie and accidents just didn't align. She strived for perfection. Jack, however…

An idea started forming in Vlad's mind, about every little nuance of the incident. In that moment, everything came back to Jack. Jack, who Maddie left with and trusted her life to, despite nearly killing their best friend. Jack, who likely lacked the self-awareness to properly even realize what he'd done. Jack, who ruined lives, and continued his, as if nothing was wrong.

Well, something was very wrong with that. Perhaps it was time for Vlad's isolation period to end. Maddie was alone with a loose cannon of a husband who could easily hurt someone again.

Just once, Vlad would put on his fake smile and play hero. He started looking up phone numbers, and addresses, and anything else he'd need.

Vlad would enact some much needed revenge on Jack Fenton, and enjoy a good old-fashioned reunion to celebrate the end of years of isolation and torture.


	23. Lightning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side effects of being electrocuted by a portal go beyond getting convenient powers to save the day with.
> 
> (Warnings: electrocution mention, trauma, vomiting, vaguely body horrory gore, being very aware of bodily functions, vague mention of unhealthy coping mechanisms)

Ectoplasm ran like lightning through Danny’s veins. It made sense, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to it.

His body was different ever since the incident with the Ghost Portal. Beyond the already confusing half ghost issue, of course. Or, perhaps, in many ways related.

Regardless of why, Danny learned that he was far more aware of his own body. Every little breath, every little beat of his heart, every little twitch. All of it was like a cacophony of noise on his senses.

Being electrocuted by a portal was… traumatizing, to say the least. Danny could still vividly remember the pulse of lightning coursing through him.

Not like his body would let him forget.

Those little twitches were new since the incident. His mother told him something about the electricity rewriting the commands from his brain.

His heartbeat was intense, a shock pulsing through him with every beat. Vlad had told him that was a side effect. Danny’s body was still alive, but the ectoplasm still had to force its way through, keeping him caught between electrocuted and dead. Apparently Vlad’s own side effects involved vomiting up pure ectoplasm, which Danny kept finding himself perhaps only mildly lucky that all his side effects stayed internal. Not that liquid lightning for blood was any better than molten fluid holding his face together.

The breathing, Danny had to guess, was a mix of things. He probably considered himself lucky to even still be breathing. It also made him feel tingly, like the lightning bolts traveling through his veins were leaving behind static electricity that he needed to breathe out. Whatever was going on, he didn’t really feel like it was too important to go telling someone how creepy and uncomfortable the simple act of breathing felt.

He was learning, slowly, to cope with all of his little quirks. Maybe not always necessarily through healthy coping mechanisms, but… it worked. Barely. It took everything Danny could do just to feel comfortable in his own skin.

Though, maybe one day, Danny would learn he might need more than just coping to handle the physical and mental trauma that one incident put him through.


	24. Mask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A ghostly artifact in the form of a mask makes its way into a masquerade ball
> 
> (Warnings: plague doctor mention, hypnotism implication?)

Danny had dealt with his fair share of ghostly artifacts, but he had to admit, some of them were very strange.

Take, for example, the one he was currently after. A ghostly mask that somehow managed to get out of the Ghost Zone and into someone's possession. Danny didn’t even know who had it, just where it was going.

A masquerade ball, hosted by none other than the Mansons. Sam called it a party by the rich, for the rich, entirely just to flaunt their money on extravagant costumes.

Sam, despite her parents hosting the ball, was determined not to go. It made sense, considering how much she hated anything to do with her parents, but it was unfortunate for Danny. Not even a ghost could get into that ball without an invitation and a costume, and invitations were only given to the rich and their guests. Without Sam, Danny was going to have to find another way in.

That was how Danny ended up in a limousine to the ball with none other than Vlad Masters.

Vlad was the only other person Danny could think of who would have an invitation. Just his luck, Vlad was prepared for a guest, as if knowing Danny would want a way in.

The very concept of the idea frustrated Danny. However, it got him closer to the artifact without causing a fuss, so he was going to have to play nice for a while.

Vlad had a costume made for Danny, obviously enjoying playing “family for a day” as his payment for getting Danny into the ball. A white suit was paired with an ornate pearl mask, with a beak forming down around Danny’s nose, and wing-like shapes spreading up off of the sides of the mask and over Danny’s ears. It would be pretty nice, if it weren’t for the fact that it reeked of money, and Vlad’s money at that.

Vlad himself was dressed in almost entirely black, a stark contrast to Danny’s white. With the mask, it made Danny think of some sort of plague doctor Dracula, which at least provided him with enough jokes about Vlad’s tastes to lighten his mood.

The good news was that Danny at least wouldn’t be stuck to Vlad’s side all evening. As soon as he was introduced as Vlad’s “son,” Danny took the chance to run off and mingle into the crowd, making a point to avoid Vlad while he looked for the artifact he was after.

It took a bit longer than he would have liked, but eventually, Danny found it. A girl was wearing it, the green and white of the mask somewhat clashing against the pink of her dress. Sam would have probably made quite the comment about that outfit if she saw it.

Danny threaded through the crowd to get closer to the girl. “Uh… Hey.” Great start. He found his target, but actually had no idea how to even begin trying to get it back. “That’s… a nice costume you’ve got.”

The girl didn’t respond, only smiled.

Oh boy. Danny was not good at improvising a one-sided conversation.

Wait, right. They were at a ball. They didn’t have to talk. “You, uh… want to dance?” Danny held out his hand for her.

To his relief, she took it, silently accepting the offer.

Danny would have to thank his dad later for teaching him how to dance. It wasn’t anything extravagantly fancy, but Danny’s dad had kept insisting Danny should know how to dance for any romantic formal events.

Not that his current dance was romantic, but it was certainly formal. As much as Danny loved the idea of tarnishing Vlad’s name by acting like a rowdy teenager, he knew he wouldn’t exactly get out of the ball without scorn himself. He had to behave and get the mask. He could always “thank” Vlad for putting him through the nice rich boy act later.

As the dance ended, Danny decided he needed to act. He’d been dancing with the girl in a more secluded spot, somewhere he could take the mask off and replace it without any fuss.

He used the end of the dance as his chance to gently dip the girl, hoping it registered as the polite gesture he intended it to be. She smiled, calming his nerves considerably.

Gently, Danny lifted the mask up off her face. He blinked, frozen for a moment as he registered the face underneath. “...Sam?”

Sam looked like she was coming out of a daze, likely waking up from the mask’s mysterious effects. She processed the masked figure holding her before she recognized his voice. “...Danny? Is that you?”

“Yeah.” Danny propped up his mask just enough so she could see him. He smiled at her. “Doing okay?”

“Feel like I woke up from a nightmare.” Sam caught sight of her dress, and frowned. “Actually, nevermind, it’s still happening. What am I wearing?”

Danny chuckled a little to lighten her mood. “I guess your parents were elated that you’d wear anything with the ghost mask on.”

“Ugh, gross.”

Danny offered Sam the new, normal mask as he helped her up, but she just pushed it back toward him. “Nah, no need. I’m just going to go home and change. Even if no one knows it’s me, I’m not spending another minute in this dress.”

“Alright.” Danny smiled, comforted by Sam’s usual attitude.

Sam turned to leave, but just before doing so, she gave Danny a smile. “Hey Danny? Thanks.”

Danny smiled back, unable to respond with anything but a slight blush to his face. He settled his mask back into place to hide it.

His presence at the ball was supposed to be strictly business, but he’d gotten to enjoy a bit of leisure, too. He wondered if Sam would be coming back in something a bit more suited for her, or if it was time for him to take his leave. Maybe he’d wait, just in case.


	25. Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maddie catches the Wisconsin Ghost
> 
> (Warnings: broken limbs/breaking limbs, torture, electrocution, ectoplasm blood, hospital mention, death mention, interrogation, not believing the truth)

“Tell me everything, or I’ll break your arm.”

Maddie had caught a ghost last night. Or, rather, it had been foolishly clumsy enough to get near the Fenton household while she was still awake.

She’d been elated when she caught it. Jack had always talked about wanting to catch the Wisconsin Ghost, and it had just stumbled right into her trap. She’d decided on leaving it imprisoned overnight, so that Jack could see it when he woke up. Just in case, due to its strength, she kept it in a cell designed to drain its energy, fine-tuned to allow it only barely enough stability so that it wouldn’t turn into a puddle of goo before Jack could celebrate their prize.

Apparently, it had more energy than she thought, and it was a wily creature. She’d gone to check on it the next morning before Jack woke up, to make sure it hadn’t been destroyed, only to find that it had shapeshifted.

As if hoping the familiar face would trick Maddie into letting her guard down, the ghost had taken the form of Vlad Masters. However, she could still see the faint red glow in its eyes as it looked up at her, a sign that it was weaker, but it definitely was still a ghost. It wasn’t Vlad, but Maddie was also smart enough to know that there was more going on than just hoping it could escape by using his face. It was the Wisconsin Ghost, after all, known for haunting Vlad’s own home.

If the Vlad Masters that had been talking to her and Jack since the reunion had even been the real Vlad Masters all along.

The Wisconsin Ghost, despite being weakened, hardly looked afraid as it responded in Vlad’s voice. “That’s a very human threat, dear Maddie.”

“Shut up.” The ghost wasn’t Vlad, but she had to admit, seeing his face and hearing his voice when she knew it was a ghost made her uncomfortable. She felt somewhat like a sailor interrogating a siren, fighting against the way its friendly tune tried to lure her in.

“Well, I can’t exactly ‘shut up’ and explain things to you at the same time, now can I?”

“Stop that.” She put a hand on the panel that controlled the energy of the cell. Even if she couldn’t actually break his arm, she could make him feel like it was broken. She could easily focus a draining shock on his arm, breaking the flow of ectoplasm enough to badly injure and incapacitate him.

Just to make sure her theory was right, she tried it, as a punishment for talking back. Not-Vlad doubled over in pain as he clenched his wrist, and Maddie caught sight of some liquified ectoplasm dripping out of the wound. “Answer my questions, and nothing more. Your leg is next.”

The ghost didn’t answer. Maddie took that as compliance.

Where should her questions start? She had a lot to ask, she realized, and she didn’t want to wake Jack for help. He cared too much about Vlad. He’d instantly fall for the siren’s song.

She had to start somewhere, so she picked a question that would hopefully answer a few others. “How long have you been in the home of Vlad Masters?”

The ghost chuckled under his breath.

Maddie’s hand hovered over the switch that would break another limb. “Answer the question.”

“There’s a lot of ways it could be interpreted. It’s a loaded question, dear Maddie.”

Maddie flipped the switch. Not-Vlad spasmed and hissed as ectoplasm leaked out of his leg.

“Fine! Forever.”

“Good. Simple answers will do from now on. Your upper arm is next.”

Not-Vlad looked like he was thinking something over as he stared at Maddie. She almost pitied him, until the red of his eyes brought her back to reality.

She thought over the ghost’s answer. “Forever? Does that mean even before the portal?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I live there.”

Live. What a funny word for a ghost to use. Maddie supposed he used it out of habit. “Why take the form of Vlad Masters?”

“Because…” He locked eyes with her, and she could almost laugh at how pitiful he looked. “...Maddie.”

There it was. The siren’s song. Before he could continue, she flipped the switch. The ghost shouted in pain that time, already growing exhausted by each methodical break.

When the pain subsided, he curled up on himself a bit. “...I can’t answer that question.”

Maddie debated breaking another limb. “Is that your final answer?”

“Yes.”

He was still being compliant, at least. She’d just have to move on. She didn’t want him passing out from pain. “A rib is next.”

The ghost actually flinched. He likely knew, as well, how bad his answer was.

Maddie still had a lot on her mind, so she tried another angle. “Is Vlad Masters alive?”

“...Depends.”

“On what?”

“On what you consider as ‘alive.’”

She didn’t like that answer, but it would be foolish to destroy him just over bad answers. She thought about the last time she saw Vlad, and could confirm it was him. That was the day he was being taken to the hospital, years ago. “Is he conscious?” 

“Yes.”

“Do you ‘live’ with him?”

Not-Vlad weakly chuckled. “...Yes.”

“Do you hurt him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

The ghost paused, as if thinking over his answer. If he kept being stubborn about Vlad-related questions, she’d break more areas.

Finally, he answered. “There’s no reason to. Is it too much to ask to exist?”

Maddie shocked him again. “Short answers; and yes, it is.”

A trail of ectoplasm bubbled out of his mouth. He stayed quiet.

Not-Vlad was starting to look terrible. Maddie was going to have to choose her remaining questions wisely. “Where is Vlad?”

“Closer than you think.”

“Where?”

“...Here.”

The answer confused Maddie. It had to be another siren’s song. Vlad wasn’t in her house. Vlad wasn’t… No, she wouldn’t even entertain the idea of him dying and becoming a ghost. Vlad had to be okay. The Wisconsin Ghost was lying.

Maddie broke another limb, and unfortunately, the pain was too much. The ghost passed out. Even unconscious, it kept Vlad’s form.

She hated it. She needed a minute away from it. The Wisconsin Ghost wasn’t Vlad. It was just using her friendship to try and escape.

She’d calm down, and deal with it later. More importantly, she couldn’t let it trick Jack.


	26. Strange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to read about the area before moving into a new place.

Amity Park was strange.

Anyone new to town learned that quickly. Within a day or two, things start sounding like a conspiracy theory waiting to happen.

First of all, there were ghosts. Real, visible ghosts that tormented the town. Except for Danny Phantom, who was also a ghost, but specifically fought other ghosts. It was complicated, especially to someone still grasping the fact that ghosts were real.

Second, there were ghost hunters. It probably made sense, a town with a lot of ghosts needed ghost hunters. Except, again, the idea of ghost hunting as a profession sounded like something out of a kid’s novel until one actually saw it.

Yet, like ghosts, ghost hunters existed. The most well known were the Fentons. Their popularity was for mixed reasons, but it was easy to spot their strange house in the neighborhood.

There were also apparently government-sanctioned teams, and out-of-town teams. Also, apparently, what looked like one lone teenage girl with very expensive equipment. Amity Park was just as much a gathering spot for ghost hunters as it was for ghosts.

Third, speaking of the government, everything about the local mayor was strange. He’d moved in from Wisconsin with absolutely no prior political work and managed to win the vote by a landslide. He also, apparently, knew the Fentons.

There were also a few small rumors about the mayor having brought a ghost with him. In a town of ghosts, that would be hard to prove, if it weren’t for Jack Fenton loudly calling one in particular “The Wisconsin Ghost.” When both the mayor and the ghost were from the same state, it would start raising a few questions. However, Vlad Masters specifically avoided talking about the Wisconsin Ghost, leaving those questions unanswered.

It seemed like some sort of rite of passage to just accept the strange things that happened in Amity Park. However, secretly, people talked. If one knew where to look, they could easily find online forums or local hangouts dedicated to rumors and theories.

Some people talked about why Danny Phantom was different than other ghosts. Some talked about why ghosts seemed obsessed with Amity Park in the first place. Some talked about Vlad Masters, and everything that didn’t line up with him. Unfortunately, those of the last group tended to disband or disappear rather quickly.

Regardless of what was whispered, and where, the fact remained that Amity Park was strange. Yet, the locals were comfortable with where they lived. Over time, newcomers would learn to love it too. Danny Phantom’s ghost fights were like the eighth wonder of the world. Amity Park, despite all its oddities, was their home, and being able to see real ghosts was quite the talking point.

Amity Park was strange, and different, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad place to be.


	27. Buried

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buried deep within Vlad's belongings, Danny finds old memories.

Vlad Masters was not one to look fondly back on old memories. In fact, quite the opposite, he hated thinking about them. He hated remembering the normalcy of life with his old friends.

So, as best he could, he kept the memories buried. He avoided them, and tuned them out; anything to keep them off his mind. Over time, unless something brought the old memories up, he did well at hiding from them.

It was many, many years after the initial incident that perhaps his methods would come back to haunt him.

Danny had managed to sneak into Vlad’s home to poke around. He was looking for something in particular, but in the large mansion, he wasn’t exactly sure where to find it. So, Danny did what a stubbornly curious teenager did best: he went through everything he could find.

Danny knew Vlad would guess he was there, so he made no attempt at putting scattered items back where they belonged. Not like he could, anyway, considering he wouldn’t put it past Vlad to notice if something was even an inch out of place.

After poking through most of Vlad’s belongings, Danny was having no luck finding the item he was looking for. He knew Vlad had it, but apparently, Vlad was also very good at hiding items that he didn’t want found. Danny was going to have to get creative on where he looked.

Somehow, that led to Danny rummaging through a rather cluttered closet.

The deeper Danny got into the pile of belongings, the more it was obvious Vlad didn’t even use most of them anymore. In Danny’s mind, that made the pile a good hiding spot.

Buried underneath everything, deep into the closet, Danny found a little box that stood out. He pulled it out, hoping it was what he was looking for. He’d been searching for hours, and Vlad would be getting home soon, so to avoid a furious Plasmius, Danny decided his best option was to take the box home and check there.

Once comfortably situated in his room, Danny propped the box in his lap and opened it.

Inside was definitely not the item he’d been looking for.

Instead, it looked like a random assortment of even more of Vlad’s personal belongings. Great. Hopefully he wouldn’t be looking for it anytime soon.

Danny, ever curious, decided to look through the box anyway, just to see what was so important that it needed a special container. It looked like mostly old photos or random trinkets.

Wait… Actually looking through the photos, Danny noticed a pattern. Jack and Maddie were both still in them, along with a rather content-looking Vlad.

All of the photos were from before Vlad’s incident. The other items were likely related to the same time period.

It was still strange to Danny, thinking about how Vlad and his parents used to be friends. The Vlad he knew just had so many red flags. However, the photos painted the side of the story his parents knew. The three of them looked so happy in the past.

A knock sounded on Danny’s door, and Jack Fenton barged in with barely any more announcement. “Hey Danny-O, have you seen- Oh, what’s that?” Before Danny could make an attempt at hiding the photos, Jack was looking at them. “Where did you find this, bud?”

“Um…” Admitting he accidentally stole them from Vlad seemed like a bad idea. “Borrowing them for a school project?”

The answer must have been enough for Jack, because he didn’t prod further. Instead, he was looking through the photos with a smile. “Been a long time since I’ve seen these. Look at this one.” The photo Jack held up had the three friends standing together outside, a crowd behind them. “Vladdie and I split the price on getting your mom tickets to her favorite band. They were doing a show on her birthday. She was so excited.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Danny noticed what was likely Vlad’s old ticket buried among the photos still in the box.

As his dad continued telling each of the stories for each photo, Danny found himself surprised Vlad had even kept them so long in the first place. All of them sounded so happy, nothing like the Vlad he knew.

He felt bad for his dad. He really had been Vlad’s friend, a long time ago. So had Danny’s mom.

Why did Vlad have to be so stubborn about how things changed? Why would Vlad keep such sentimental photos, but turn around and be so angry?

A few days after Jack had finished sharing his stories, Danny returned to Vlad’s mansion to give back the old box. Just as he’d expected, everything he’d moved was already back in its proper place.

Danny put the box somewhere he was sure Vlad would see it. He wasn’t entirely certain if it was a good idea or not, but maybe Vlad needed a little bit of the same reminder Jack had just gone through.

Hopefully it wouldn’t just end up buried under a pile of old mistakes again.


	28. Diner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the past of the timeline that was narrowly avoided, "Dan" remembers.  
> (The Nasty Burger is the Denny's of DP. Therefore, it's a diner. No I don't take criticism on this train of thought.)
> 
> (Warnings: death mention, angry emotional breakdown)

When Danny - Dan - first abandoned Vlad to his fate, he hadn’t entirely been certain where to go. Even as a ghost, he was still a child, who’d essentially just run away from home.

Like many children running away from home, he wanted to go to a place where he found comfort.

Instinctively, he’d gone back to the remains of the Nasty Burger. Back where it all began.

The sight only served to flare up his emotions again.

If they hadn’t- If he hadn’t- If life hadn’t failed him.

His thoughts were a scattered trainwreck. Sorrow gave way to anger gave way to hatred gave way to violence. He screamed, desperate for an outlet. He hated everything. He hated people, he hated living, he hated existing, he hated fate, he hated being alone, he hated what he’d become.

He hated.

A loud blast pulled him out of his thoughts. He’d thrown out a blast of ectoplasm without even thinking about it, adding a small crater to the carnage. Staring at it made his stomach churn, and yet… he wanted to do it again. Thinking about all the happy memories at the fast food diner and looking at its destroyed remains made him want to destroy everything else.

If he couldn’t have his friends, his family, his comfort spot, his happy days, why should anyone else? Why should he be left alone, the only one to suffer?

Danny - Dan - took off into the air. Emotions and ectoplasm scattered any rational thoughts he would have made long ago. He couldn’t look at the remains of his old hangout anymore, but he could find somewhere else to take out his frustrations. Somewhere someone would see his pain. Somewhere someone would feel it.

Truly, along with his friends and family, Danny Fenton was forever dead.


	29. Heat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny has a fever. Sam is ready to help.
> 
> (Warnings: fever/illness, doctor mention, melting implication?)

Perhaps the worst sort of sickness for Danny was a fever.

He wasn’t entirely sure where he’d gotten it, or what he was sick with. He woke up unable to move due to the intense heat holding his body in place.

Danny’s ice core could do nothing to stave off the molten fever. If anything, it felt like it was making the heat worse. Danny’s body had grown accustomed to body temperatures below the normal average.

So, to be several degrees above average, Danny was not having a good time.

He wasn’t entirely sure about telling his parents. No matter who would doctor him, they could end up finding out his secret. No, considering his normal body temperature, they likely would find out. At the same time, though, his body burned.

Danny took a deep breath, and tried to will his core’s strength in on itself. He could feel a slight chill welling up in his chest, but the heat quickly snuffed it back out.

Danny’s phone was thankfully close enough that he could grab it without too much strain. His mind went to Sam, who knew her way around Danny’s secret and medical needs a little more than anyone else he could think of. He sent her a quick text.

“Fever. Ghost powers not helping.”

Sam’s response was instant. “Be there quick.”

Her arrival was as quick as her text. She’d brought a bag with her, filled with ice packs, ice, rags, medicine, and a thermometer. She’d also apparently managed to grab a bowl of iced water from downstairs.

“Thanks, Sam.” Danny winced at his own hoarse voice.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Sam set an ice pack on Danny’s head and frowned. “Jeez, Danny. You feel like a furnace.”

Danny just groaned softly in response.

Sam took out the thermometer to check his temperature. She made a face at it, clearly not liking the results.

Danny weakly chuckled. “That bad, huh?”

“For you? Yeah. You’re lucky your core doesn’t have a habit of melting.”

“Comforting.” Danny was joking, but… it was a bit comforting. Not the heat threatening to melt his ghost half, but Sam’s usual demeanor as she simultaneously scolded him and mended him.

Sam demanded silence to keep Danny from straining his voice. The two teens weren’t exactly equipped to handle medical emergencies, but Sam had been able to contact a doctor before visiting, and had the same doctor’s number in case she needed more help.

However, with enough ice and rest, the heat eventually gave way, allowing Danny’s core to start cooling him again. He sighed softly, enjoying the cold feeling starting to bloom through him.

With a bit more energy, he smiled and spoke in a clearer tone. “Seriously, thanks Sam.”

“Just try not to do that on me again, okay?”

“Yeah.” Danny stretched and sat up, wanting to get out of the warm bed. He hadn’t even really gotten to eat yet beyond small scraps that Sam had to help him through.

Danny waved goodbye to Sam as she left.

She’d told him to take it easy the rest of the day, but as far as the two could tell, it was plenty safe for him to move around and do simple tasks.

So, simple tasks it was. Danny was just happy to feel his usual sense of cold again.


	30. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fentons take a family vacation, and Jack spends some quality time with his son

Jack Fenton prided himself on being a family man. He loved his wife and his kids, and he'd move the very earth they stood on for them if that was what they needed.

So, when Danny started keeping secrets from him, Jack grew worried. He wanted to be the kind of dad that Danny could trust anything with.

Had Jack made some sort of mistake he wasn't aware of? Had Danny internalized some issue he picked up at school? Or was it just something that Danny, as a teenager, felt embarrassed talking to his dad about?

Whatever the issue was, Jack wanted to mend things. He wanted to remind Danny that he was there to help, and love, and could be trusted with anything.

Jack decided that the best way to handle things was a family vacation, where the kids could enjoy themselves and he could have some time with Danny to talk about whatever was on the boy's mind.

Thus, the Fentons went on a camping trip together. Just to make sure the kids would have fun, all of them made an agreement. Electronics were allowed, with the knowledge that cell service would likely be spotty out in the woods. No ghost hunting equipment would be present, save for the GAV, due to it being their only camping-style transportation available.

The family found a rather secluded spot to camp, and Jack and Maddie got to work setting up tents. There were only two in usable condition, so they decided that one would be for Jazz and Maddie, and one would be for Jack and Danny. It gave the kids some privacy from each other, and it gave Jack a quiet place to be able to talk to Danny.

Danny himself looked less than thrilled about the camping trip. Despite Jack doing his best to not make the boy feel punished, Danny already looked like he wanted to go home.

Jack and Maddie did their best at just being a normal family. It wasn’t necessarily uneventful, just different from their usual activities. A stream nearby offered fishing, and Maddie set up a campfire for cooking. Jazz banned any sort of ghost stories as day gave way to night, so around the fire the family shared happy memories of their past.

About when everyone was settling down, Danny ended up approaching Jack. It took Jack somewhat by surprise, considering his plan on approaching Danny. Not that he’d complain about it, though.

“Dad? Are you doing okay?”

“What do you mean?” Even the conversation was a reverse of what Jack was expecting.

“Well, all day you’ve been acting… normal.”

Jack chuckled a bit. “You and Jazz always talk about how you want us to cool down on the ghosts for a bit. We figured we’d try it out today.”

“I guess, but…” Danny smiled a little. “It’s just not you without ghosts. Feels a little weird.”

“If you got to be a normal family, wouldn’t you take it?”

Danny shook his head. “You, Mom, and Jazz are my normal family. I wouldn’t trade you for anything.”

Jack smiled, with a warm feeling bubbling in his heart. He almost forgot about why he wanted to talk to Danny, too. “I want you kids to be happy. If there’s anything on your mind, don’t be afraid to mention it.”

A look crossed over Danny’s face, as if he had to think about whether to tell Jack something or not. He sheepishly looked up at his father. “Um, maybe one thing?”

“Name it.”

Danny took a moment to think about how to phrase his concern. “Um… Phantom, the ghost boy. All the other kids really like him and it’s not like he’s doing any harm, so… maybe you and mom could… think about being a little nicer?”

There was more to the story, but Jack wasn’t going to break the small bit of trust Danny offered him by forcing him to say. Danny could share it at his own pace. “I’ll talk with your mom about it.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

The genuine relief and comfort in Danny’s voice made Jack’s heart soar. He loved his son. He loved his family.

If that meant being nicer to even one ghost around Danny and his friends, well, Jack was willing to make that sort of sacrifice for those he loved.


	31. Free Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many, many years ago, three friends learn a little more about each other over a game of football.

Maddie didn’t even have to check the room number anymore as she knocked on the door. She’d visited enough times to know who she was looking for.

Jack answered the door and grinned. “Madds! You’re here!”

Maddie was… more than confused. “Of course I am? We’re working on the portal today.”

Jack glanced into the home behind him, wincing. “Um… Maddie? Do you… remember what day it is today?”

“Sunday?”

“Well, yeah, but…” Jack frowned. “Madds. Football season started.”

Oh. It wasn’t necessarily Maddie’s interest, so she hadn’t even thought about it. However…

Another voice vaguely echoed out from the apartment. Jack stood aside, smiling gently. “Why don’t you come inside?”

Maddie nodded and stepped into the home, Jack helping her carry in supplies. Once properly inside, she could see Vlad, whose focus was glued to the small TV he owned.

Maddie felt a bit embarrassed. Vlad had agreed to helping her with the sole condition that Packers games were his and Jack’s days off, and she’d completely forgotten to even bother checking the schedule.

Vlad noticed the new presence in the room, and looked up at her as if coming out of a trance. “...Maddie?”

“...Hi, Vlad.” Maddie waved and hugged the notes she brought tight to her chest.

Vlad caught the motion, and glanced at the files she and Jack both held before looking back at the TV. “Today’s our day off.”

“...I know. Sorry.”

Without looking up from the game again, Vlad held out a hand. Maddie was confused, but Jack seemed happy about the motion.

Jack put the files in Vlad’s hand and motioned Maddie closer. Maddie approached, still not entirely sure what was happening, and still somewhat expecting Vlad to scold her with that sharp temper of his.

Instead, however, Jack took her set of files and handed those to Vlad as well. Maddie couldn’t help but just watch as Vlad balanced his focus between both the notes and the game.

Maddie took a moment to find her voice. She spoke softly, not wanting to break whatever train of thought Vlad was in. “You don’t have to-”

“Nonsense.” A bit of Vlad’s sharp tone broke through as he cut her off. “You already brought it, it must be important.”

Vlad had to know she’d just forgotten about the game, right? She glanced at Jack, but he was just grinning back at her. Maddie was clearly on her own in admitting her mistake. “It’s really just a few equations I wanted to double-check…”

Vlad nodded. “You made an error pretty early on. These sort of numbers would overload the circuitry. Do you have a pen?”

Jack was quick to grab one for him.

Maddie sat down with the two men. She didn’t quite completely understand the game on the screen, but she understood the scores. “Didn’t you want to watch the game?”

“I can watch the game and do a favor for you. I’d just rather not make a habit of this.”

Maddie nodded as her nerves settled. She was starting to see why Jack was so relaxed. Vlad wasn’t an entirely unreasonable person, and despite having a few choice words sometimes, he did care about his friends. Maybe he was a bit blunt sometimes because he just cared that much. Like the mom friend of their little group.

Maddie couldn’t help a small chuckle upon thinking about how Vlad would react to being considered like a worried mother. Thankfully, neither of the men seemed to take notice.

She’d do her best not to make a habit of working on football days, but maybe she’d at least visit and watch with them a little more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now back to your regularly scheduled "Xem updates a fic maybe once a month at best"  
> i'm really happy i actually finished DannyMay like... in May though! was a little bit of a struggle in the middle but i actually did it!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I got sick the first couple days, but I'm here, I exist.  
> I might do some days out of order just to keep inspiration up but I'm still uploading in order, so it's very likely some days will be quiet and some days will have quick uploads, lol.


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